here's savannah. >>> new movement this morning to try and avoid the fiscal cliff. some republicans are considering abandoning their staunch opposition to higher tax rates according to recent reports. alan simpson was co-chair on the commission of fiscal responsibility. he's a co-founder of fix the debt campaign and joins us now. senator simpson, good morning, it's great to see you. >> great pleasure to be off the witness protection program and come here. but what even more fun, david brubeck used to come to wyoming a great deal. he and his family, lovely people. i did not know he had passed. and to hear that music, it's iconic stuff. anyway. so it's good to sneak in and get made up, try to hide my identity. >> well, it's good to have you here. you say you're in the witness protection program because you've been out there on the issue of how we fix our national deficit. as you well know, we face the fiscal cliff, a series of tax hikes and spending cuts that many people think if they go into effect will put the country into recession. yet we heard the treasury secret